Dame Helen Mirren and Olivia Colman have landed new roles – as endangered sea turtles.
The stars, both famous for playing the Queen, voice the parts for a film made by Wallace And Gromit creators Aardman in collaboration with Greenpeace.
Turtle Journey is designed to raise awareness around the crisis facing the world’s oceans.
The animated short depicts a family of turtles who face oil drilling, plastic pollution and industrial fishing as they try to get home.
Colman, voicing the family’s mother, said: “Home is the most important thing we have. A safe space for us and our family to live.
“But we’re taking that away from turtles, whales, penguins and so many other incredible animals.
“Most of us instinctively love the oceans and care about the amazing marine life that lives there, but far fewer people know how much pressure they are under.
“If we don’t act now we risk causing irreversible harm to our oceans and losing species for good.”
She said of the “heartbreaking” film: “Sadly, the story of this turtle family trying to get home in a damaged and changing ocean is a reality for so many marine creatures that are having their habitats destroyed by human activities.”
Dame Helen, voicing the family’s grandmother, said: “During my lifetime, I’ve seen nature being destroyed on an unimaginable scale by human activity.
“I’m saddened that our generation will leave to future generations a damaged planet which has already lost so much of the biodiversity that makes it special.
Dame Helen Mirren – In pictures
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Helen Mirren posing for a portrait in 2018
Reuters
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Helen Mirren in 1967
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The Long Good Friday (1980) starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren
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Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in a scene from The Queen (2006)
AP
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Helen Mirren sharing a cherised childhood sanp for Barnardo’s
PA
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Ian Richardson as Vendice and Helen Mirren as Castiza in The Revenger’s Tragedy (1967)
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Helen Mirren in 1976
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren in Age of Consent (1969)
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Helen Mirren as Hermia and Diana Rigg as Helena in Midsummer Nights Dream (1969)
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Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren in O Lucky Man! (1973)
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Helen Mirren interviewed by Michael Parkinson in 1975
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Helen Mirren in Hussy (1979)
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Helen Mirren in Caligula (1979)
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Helen Mirren in The Fiendish Plot of Dr Manchu (1980)
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Helen Mirren in The Hawk (1983)
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Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison in ‘Prime Suspect’ 1991
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Helen Mirren at the 1996 Emmy Awards
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Helen Mirren inb Gosford Park (2001)
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Helen Mirren in Last Orders (2001)
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Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls (2003)
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Helen Mirren attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at The Royal Opera House in 2003
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Helen Mirren after being invested as a Dame from the Prince of Wales during a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace in 2003
PA
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Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect: The Last Witness (2003)
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Helen Mirren and Helen Harris in Raising Helen (2004)
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Dame Helen Mirren pictured as Queen ELizabeth II in 2006
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Helen Mirren poses with the award for ‘Best Actress In a Leading Role’ for the film ‘Queen’ during the British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA) ceremony at the Royal Opera House in 2007
AFP/Getty Images
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Helen Mirren with the award for Best Actress (for The Queen) during the 79th Academy Awards in 2007
PA
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Forest Whitaker, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor; Jennifer Hudson, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress; Helen Mirren, winner of the Oscar for Best Actress; and Alan Arkin, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor pose backstage during the 79th Annual Academy Awards in 2007
Reuters
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Helen Mirren arrives at the Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) at the Royal Opera House in 2007
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren attends the 125th Metropolitan Opera opening night in 2008
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Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren in State of Play (2009)
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Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer in The Last Station (2009)
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Helen Mirren in The Tempest (2010)
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Helen Mirren attends “The Tempest” world premiere during the 67th Venice Film Festival at the Sala Grande Palazzo Del Cinema on 11 September 2010 in Venice, Italy
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Helen Mirren in Red (2010)
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Helen Mirren in Arthur (2011)
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Helen Mirren in Debt(2011)
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Helen Mirren attends the afterparty for the European premiere of Brighton Rock in 2011
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Helen Mirren as Alma Reville Hitchcock (2012)
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Helen Mirren holds the Hasty Pudding Pot aloft and sticks her tongue out during her roast as woman of the year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals in 2014
AP
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The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014), starring Helen Mirren as Madame Mallory
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Om Puri, Manish Dayal and Helen Mirren in a scene from ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’ (2014)
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Helen Mirren for Red Nose Day
NBC
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Helen Mirren attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards 2014
Getty Images
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Catherine Duchess of Cambridge (meeting Helen Mirren as Sir David Attenborough looks on at a
Reception for the Dramatic Arts, Buckingham Palace in 2014
Rex
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Helen Mirren views wax figures of herself at Madam Tussauds in 2015
PA
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Helen Mirren attends the ‘Woman in Gold’ premiere during the 65th Berlinale International Film Festival in 2015
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren in a scene from ‘The Audience’ in New York.
AP
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Elizabeth Teeter, Helen Mirren and Sadie Sink attend the opening night after party for the Broadway Opening of ‘The Audience’ in 2015
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Dr Who with Helen Mirren
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Helen Mirren with Ryan Reynolds in Woman in Gold (2015)
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Helen Mirren in Eye in the Sky (2015)
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Helen Mirren and Bryan Cranston in Trumbo (2015)
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Helen Mirren attends the 2015 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren accepts the award for Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role In A Play for “The Audience” during the American Theatre Wing’s 69th Annual Tony Awards at the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York in 2015
Reuters
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Taylor Hackford and Helen Mirren attend the “China: Through The Looking Glass” Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren attends “The Unknown Girl (La Fille Inconnue)” Premiere during the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2016
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren arrives at the 21st Annual Critics’ Choice Awards 2016
Reuters
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Helen Mirren attending the European premiere of Collateral Beauty in 2016
PA
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Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Nicole Kidman attend Entertainment Weekly’s Must List Party during the Toronto International Film Festival 2017
Getty Images
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Matt Smith and Dame Helen Mirren pose with cast member David Tennant at the West End production of “Don Juan In Soho” at Wyndhams Theatre in 2017
Dave Benett
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Helen Mirren walks the runway during Le Defile L’Oreal Paris as part of Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2018 at Avenue Des Champs Elysees on 1 October 2017 in Paris, France
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren in ‘Winchester’ (2018)
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Helen Mirren in Catherine The Great
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Helen Mirren attends the screening of “Girls Of The Sun (Les Filles Du Soleil)” during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival 2018
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren attends the Opening Ceremony & ‘Isle of Dogs’ premiere during the 68th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin in 2018
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren and Viola Davis onstage during the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2018
NBCUniversal via Getty Images
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HBO Golden Globe After Party 2018
Reuters
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Helen Mirren before and after the Oscars in 2018
Helen Mirren
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Helen Mirren attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards 2018
Getty Images
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Diane Warren (L) and Helen Mirren attend the 90th Annual Academy Awards 2018
Getty Images
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Best Costume Design winner Mark Bridges rides a jet ski with actress Helen Mirren on the back after he won it for the shortest Oscar acceptance speech of 2018
Reuters
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The Prince of Wales meets (left to right) Adrien Koskas of L’Oreal, celebrity ambassadors Cheryl Tweedy and Dame Helen Mirren and Dame Helen’s husband Taylor Hackford at an Invest in Futures reception for The Prince’s Trust at St James’s Palace, London in 2018
PA
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Helen Mirren attends the premiere of Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ in 2019
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Helen Mirren and Will Smith attends the premiere of Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ in 2019
Getty Images
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Helen Miren as Mother Ginger in ‘The Nutcracker; (2019)
Disney
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Helen Mirren attends the 91st Annual Academy Awards in 2019
FilmMagic
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Helen Mirren and Jason Momoa speak onstage during the 91st Annual Academy Awards
Getty Images
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Lang Lang, Cara Delevingne, Lil Buck, Robert Carsen, Tilda Swinton, Pharell Williams and Helen Mirren pose on stage during the Karl Lagerfeld Homage at Grand Palais, Paris, France in 2019
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren attends the LA premiere of ‘Dumbo’ in 2019
Invision/AP
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Helen Mirren posing for a portrait in 2018
Reuters
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Helen Mirren in 1967
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The Long Good Friday (1980) starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren
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Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in a scene from The Queen (2006)
AP
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Helen Mirren sharing a cherised childhood sanp for Barnardo’s
PA
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Ian Richardson as Vendice and Helen Mirren as Castiza in The Revenger’s Tragedy (1967)
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Helen Mirren in 1976
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren in Age of Consent (1969)
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Helen Mirren as Hermia and Diana Rigg as Helena in Midsummer Nights Dream (1969)
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Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren in O Lucky Man! (1973)
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Helen Mirren interviewed by Michael Parkinson in 1975
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Helen Mirren in Hussy (1979)
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Helen Mirren in Caligula (1979)
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Helen Mirren in The Fiendish Plot of Dr Manchu (1980)
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Helen Mirren in The Hawk (1983)
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Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison in ‘Prime Suspect’ 1991
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Helen Mirren at the 1996 Emmy Awards
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren inb Gosford Park (2001)
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Helen Mirren in Last Orders (2001)
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Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls (2003)
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Helen Mirren attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at The Royal Opera House in 2003
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren after being invested as a Dame from the Prince of Wales during a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace in 2003
PA
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Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect: The Last Witness (2003)
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Helen Mirren and Helen Harris in Raising Helen (2004)
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Dame Helen Mirren pictured as Queen ELizabeth II in 2006
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Helen Mirren poses with the award for ‘Best Actress In a Leading Role’ for the film ‘Queen’ during the British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA) ceremony at the Royal Opera House in 2007
AFP/Getty Images
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Helen Mirren with the award for Best Actress (for The Queen) during the 79th Academy Awards in 2007
PA
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Forest Whitaker, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor; Jennifer Hudson, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress; Helen Mirren, winner of the Oscar for Best Actress; and Alan Arkin, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor pose backstage during the 79th Annual Academy Awards in 2007
Reuters
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Helen Mirren arrives at the Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) at the Royal Opera House in 2007
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren attends the 125th Metropolitan Opera opening night in 2008
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Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren in State of Play (2009)
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Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer in The Last Station (2009)
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Helen Mirren in The Tempest (2010)
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Helen Mirren attends “The Tempest” world premiere during the 67th Venice Film Festival at the Sala Grande Palazzo Del Cinema on 11 September 2010 in Venice, Italy
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren in Red (2010)
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Helen Mirren in Arthur (2011)
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Helen Mirren in Debt(2011)
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Helen Mirren attends the afterparty for the European premiere of Brighton Rock in 2011
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren as Alma Reville Hitchcock (2012)
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Helen Mirren holds the Hasty Pudding Pot aloft and sticks her tongue out during her roast as woman of the year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals in 2014
AP
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The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014), starring Helen Mirren as Madame Mallory
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Om Puri, Manish Dayal and Helen Mirren in a scene from ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’ (2014)
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Helen Mirren for Red Nose Day
NBC
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Helen Mirren attends the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards 2014
Getty Images
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Catherine Duchess of Cambridge (meeting Helen Mirren as Sir David Attenborough looks on at a
Reception for the Dramatic Arts, Buckingham Palace in 2014
Rex
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Helen Mirren views wax figures of herself at Madam Tussauds in 2015
PA
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Helen Mirren attends the ‘Woman in Gold’ premiere during the 65th Berlinale International Film Festival in 2015
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren in a scene from ‘The Audience’ in New York.
AP
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Elizabeth Teeter, Helen Mirren and Sadie Sink attend the opening night after party for the Broadway Opening of ‘The Audience’ in 2015
Getty Images
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Dr Who with Helen Mirren
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Helen Mirren with Ryan Reynolds in Woman in Gold (2015)
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Helen Mirren in Eye in the Sky (2015)
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Helen Mirren and Bryan Cranston in Trumbo (2015)
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Helen Mirren attends the 2015 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren accepts the award for Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role In A Play for “The Audience” during the American Theatre Wing’s 69th Annual Tony Awards at the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York in 2015
Reuters
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Taylor Hackford and Helen Mirren attend the “China: Through The Looking Glass” Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren attends “The Unknown Girl (La Fille Inconnue)” Premiere during the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2016
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren arrives at the 21st Annual Critics’ Choice Awards 2016
Reuters
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Helen Mirren attending the European premiere of Collateral Beauty in 2016
PA
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Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Nicole Kidman attend Entertainment Weekly’s Must List Party during the Toronto International Film Festival 2017
Getty Images
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Matt Smith and Dame Helen Mirren pose with cast member David Tennant at the West End production of “Don Juan In Soho” at Wyndhams Theatre in 2017
Dave Benett
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Helen Mirren walks the runway during Le Defile L’Oreal Paris as part of Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2018 at Avenue Des Champs Elysees on 1 October 2017 in Paris, France
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren in ‘Winchester’ (2018)
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Helen Mirren in Catherine The Great
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Helen Mirren attends the screening of “Girls Of The Sun (Les Filles Du Soleil)” during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival 2018
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren attends the Opening Ceremony & ‘Isle of Dogs’ premiere during the 68th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin in 2018
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren and Viola Davis onstage during the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2018
NBCUniversal via Getty Images
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HBO Golden Globe After Party 2018
Reuters
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Helen Mirren before and after the Oscars in 2018
Helen Mirren
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Helen Mirren attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards 2018
Getty Images
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Diane Warren (L) and Helen Mirren attend the 90th Annual Academy Awards 2018
Getty Images
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Best Costume Design winner Mark Bridges rides a jet ski with actress Helen Mirren on the back after he won it for the shortest Oscar acceptance speech of 2018
Reuters
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The Prince of Wales meets (left to right) Adrien Koskas of L’Oreal, celebrity ambassadors Cheryl Tweedy and Dame Helen Mirren and Dame Helen’s husband Taylor Hackford at an Invest in Futures reception for The Prince’s Trust at St James’s Palace, London in 2018
PA
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Helen Mirren attends the premiere of Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ in 2019
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren and Will Smith attends the premiere of Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ in 2019
Getty Images
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Helen Miren as Mother Ginger in ‘The Nutcracker; (2019)
Disney
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Helen Mirren attends the 91st Annual Academy Awards in 2019
FilmMagic
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Helen Mirren and Jason Momoa speak onstage during the 91st Annual Academy Awards
Getty Images
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Lang Lang, Cara Delevingne, Lil Buck, Robert Carsen, Tilda Swinton, Pharell Williams and Helen Mirren pose on stage during the Karl Lagerfeld Homage at Grand Palais, Paris, France in 2019
Getty Images
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Helen Mirren attends the LA premiere of ‘Dumbo’ in 2019
Invision/AP
“However, we have a chance to do something now and leave a legacy of properly protected oceans to all the people who come after us.
“We can’t bring back what we’ve already lost, but we can protect what we still have. I hope this film will help to make more people realise the ocean is worth protecting, and inspires us to act before it’s too late.”
Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter, Game Of Thrones star Bella Ramsey, Stranger Things actor David Harbour and comedian Ahir Shah, who are all Greenpeace ocean ambassadors, also voice roles in the film.
Ramsey said: “The eyes of the world and of all our descendants are on our governments.
“We, individually, need to play our part but they, collectively, must act now to create positive, lasting and dramatic change.”
Turtle Journey ends with a call to action, urging viewers to sign Greenpeace’s petition for a global ocean treaty.
Greenpeace also published research showing ocean warming and changing currents are forcing Pacific leatherback turtles to travel almost twice as far to reach new feeding sites in cooler waters after leaving their nesting grounds.
The findings come from research in French Guiana, where the numbers of turtle eggs on beaches is around 100 times smaller than it was in the 1990s.
Conservationists say the extra energy the turtles use to get to the feeding grounds is likely to be reducing the number of eggs they lay each season.
With reporting by Press Association.